What Are the Differences Between Oak and Walnut Flooring?
By Derek Rogers

Hardwood flooring is a classic and luxurious way to add a beautiful floor to your home. Used for centuries, hardwood is a durable choice that can last for many years with the proper care. And, if your hardwood floor becomes damaged, you can refinish it, instead of replacing it. However, there are many choices available when it comes to the type of wood used in your hardwood floor. Oak is one of the most popular, but maple, walnut, and others are also offered. If you're thinking about a hardwood floor and are not sure if walnut or oak flooring are the right choices for your home, then here is some information to help you decide.

Oak is the less expensive of the two floors and a little softer. It's more readily available and can come stained in a number of colours. That means that if you're not interested in paying the premium for the look and hardness of walnut, but want a dark floor, you can still get one. Oak does not, however, look like walnut, even when stained the same colour. It has a much tighter grain, which some prefer, but others consider less attractive.

Walnut is a naturally dark, open grained wood. Most species are harder than oak, but softer than many other. The look of natural walnut is one that's hard to reproduce artificially, however. If you love walnut wood, skip the imitations - they won't measure up. However, remember that the way your flooring is produced may affect the look of it and it might not look just like the sample.

Sawn boards are the traditional option. However, lower priced sliced wood (which is soaked before sawing, then dried again) will have a different grain and be harder to refinish. Also, depending on where your wood was grown, it will look different. Even a few miles can make some difference in the appearance of an oak or walnut floor. That means it's a good idea to get a look at the wood you'll be using for your floor before installing it, if the exact look of the grain is important to you. Ask for samples of the specific flooring you will order, not just flooring of the same species.

Care for walnut and oak flooring is similar. Both can dent if a heavy object is dropped on them, although satin finishes may help reduce the appearance of these blemishes. Oak will dent more easily. Red oak is rated at about 1290 on the Janka hardness scale, while white oak rates at 1360. Black walnut is actually a little softer than these woods - rating at about 1000 on the scale. However, other walnut species are considerably harder - red walnut rates at 2450 and Brazilian walnut at an impressive 3680.

In the end, the choice of oak flooring versus walnut flooring comes down to personal preferences and budget. If you want the rich look of walnut, you won't get it with an imitation. For those concerned about durability, red or Brazilian walnut are also great choices. However, if a good hardwood floor is the priority, and you don't want to spend as much, oak is a perfectly attractive and worthwhile choice.

Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who represents a number of UK businesses. For wood flooring, he recommends Completely Flooring, one of the UK's leading suppliers of Oak and Walnut Flooring.

How to Buy Good Walnut Laminate Flooring
By Jack Goldhammer

Walnut flooring is elegant and beautiful. It is what you really want on the floors of your home, so you go to the local lumber store to price walnut flooring, already tongue and grooved. Yikes! While walnut flooring may only look out of this world, the cost is definitely out of this world, or at least way beyond your budget! Disappointed, you begin to walk out of the lumber store.

Wait! That display just caught your eye. It has laminate flooring, flooring that has been created so the pieces lock together without adhesive. It has pre-finished, too! The prices are low enough that you can afford it. Hope begins to blossom. Is it possible that you can have what you really want? Yes, it is! There in front of you is walnut laminate flooring. It is beautiful! It already looks varnished! The floors of your home will look wonderful with laminate walnut flooring.

After you buy your walnut laminate flooring, you take it home and get ready to install it. Unbelievable! It installs like a dream. You just slide the pieces together, cut where you need to, and it is done! There is no waiting for adhesives to dry and no sanding or varnishing. You do not have to worry about knotholes forming a weakness in your floors. Walnut laminate flooring is equally strong everywhere. That huge job that was going to take you every spare minute for the next month gets done in one weekend. Now all you have to do is sit down and enjoy your beautiful walnut laminate floors.

Jack Goldhammer is a Flooring Installation Specialist and loves to write a lot about walnut laminate flooring and white laminate flooring.

Ipe (Brazilian Walnut) Flooring Vs Red Oak Floors
By Rosi Lehr

Red Oak flooring has revolutionized the hardwood flooring industry in the 80's but with new technology and demands, we have discovered a stronger, more durable and beautiful hardwood that lends a more sophisticated look. Ipe also known as Brazilian Walnut offers all those qualities and when comparing the Janka Hardness and fire rating coupled with the warm natural beauty of the wood you will begin to understand why Ipe flooring is the wood floor for the future.

What is Janka hardness? The Wikipedia definition states: The Janka hardness test measures the hardness of wood. It involves measuring the force required to embed a 11.28 millimeter (0.444 inch) steel ball into wood to half its diameter. This method was chosen so that the result would leave an indention 100 square millimeters in size. It is one of the best measures of the ability of a wood species to withstand denting and wear. Red Oak has a rating of 1290 compared to Ipe at 3640. In essence Ipe flooring is 3x's stronger than Red Oak.

What is the fire spread rating? Business dictionary states it is: Rough measure of a material's propensity to burn rapidly and spread flames. Red Oak has a class III rating vs. Ipe at class I, the same as concrete and steel. This is an excellent safety feature for commercial applications.

Red Oak tends toward a medium color and wide variation in grain where Ipe is a tighter grain dark color. It has a more traditional look where Ipe can fit both traditional and contemporary settings. The physical attributes are quite visible but the behind the scenes properties give you a good idea on the longevity and durability of these woods. Red Oak did serve a great purpose for the 80's but with the technological advances and more responsible forest harvesting available, Ipe floors are quickly becoming the hottest product for your wood flooring selection.

Rosi Lehr is a contributing writer for Advantage Trim & Lumber Co.
Ipe Decking

American Black Walnut Hardwood Flooring - A Dream or a Dent Machine
By Karen Lacasse

A Walnut hardwood floor is one of those truly beautiful wood products not only to install, but in the whole aesthetics when the job is done. The colour is so rich and being a natural not a stained tone each board takes on it own appeal. That being said walnut wood floors do have one downfall, at least when we talk about functionality.

Typically a customer really only wants to have an intense conversation about decorating, while in the process of selecting a floor. What hardwood flooring, paint and railing will make the home look like a million bucks. But having been in the business for 25 years, I’ve come to realize that they all start talking about wear ability after the first date, the first dent or the first disaster.

Young Johnny drops a soup tin on your new walnut hardwood floor and panic sets in. This is somewhat justifiable, since walnut only ranks 1,010 on the Janka hardness scale. If you are familiar with the latter your know that the higher the number the harder the wood. Maple, for instance is over 1400 and exotic woods like Brazilian Cherry are over 2500, so that American black walnut hardwood flooring is significantly softer than other options. This is a reality!

Many manufacturers only apply a satin finish for the top coat to make the eventual dings and dents somewhat less noticeable. This does help. The reality is that you need accept that a walnut hardwood floor will get its share of dents BUT the big advantage is that because the colour is natural you never have to worry about scrapping off a deep stained top layer and exposing a lighter, natural finish of the wood below. Walnut is a deep chocolate-purple tone throughout the entire thickness of the wood. Scratches can be easily repaired with a touch-up polyurethane pen.

Thus where the softness may be a concern in high traffic applications the fact that a walnut hardwood floor is colour consistent throughout its thickness kind of counter balances this downside. As with all life, purchasing hardwood flooring is full of tradeoffs. Just make sure you understand the balance sheet.

For lots of information on how to buy the right floor and specifically what other characteristics of a walnut hardwood floor your may want to know visit us on line at woodsthebest.com. We’ve been doing this for 30 years, so we know our stuff!

Karen Lacasse draws on 25+ years of woodworking experience, both as a woodworking teacher and industrial woodworker/owner of Lacasse Fine Wood Products. She is the author behind woodsthebest.com where you will find articles and resources to help with all your American Black Walnut Hardwood Flooring purchases and for that matter anything else you would like to know about wood and its use in home rennovation. ENJOY!

Asian Walnut Hardwood Flooring - Everything You Need to Know Before You Buy
By Eric M Dyer

Asian Walnut wood flooring is one of the most unique hardwood species available in the market today. Often referred to as Acacia, this walnut hard wood floor is harvested obviously in Asia. Asian Walnut wood floors have become increasingly popular in the last few years. Although Oak is still the #1 seller in wood flooring, exotic species such as Asian Walnut and Brazilian Cherry have made long strides towards becoming main stream wood flooring choices. If you are looking for a very distinct floor that is considered a center piece for your room or home, Asian Walnut hardwood flooring is certainly worth considering. There are several things you need to know when considering the exotic Asian, Acacia Walnut species of floors.

Most Asian Walnut floors are offered with a factory finish. Factory finished means the factory has applied multiple, protective coats of either polyurethane, aluminum oxide, or a combination of both. These finishes protect the floor from minor scratches and wear. Of course any wood floor can be scratched, but the current factory finishes are much better than 20 years ago. The best option is to find an Acacia wood floor with either an aluminum oxide or combination of aluminum oxide and polyurethane finish. If you buy unfinished, Asian Walnut wood flooring it will have to have the protective finish applied after installation in your home. This type of in home finish is not very comparable to a factory finish as a installer cannot duplicate the heat and pressure to the boards the same as a manufacturing process in a factory.

Asian Walnut is usually available in 3 colors or stains. Natural is the most common color. Actually, natural is unstained but has a protective finish. The natural Asian Walnut boards will have a wide variety of color ranges from dark to light. The darker colors will be slightly more predominant though. Another color commonly sold is Cinnamon or sometimes called Cherry. This color has slight, red hues to give a classy, semi formal look. Cinnamon is a very rich, deep stain. The final color you may find is a stain sometimes called Smoke or Toffee. Smoke stained, Asian Walnut floors have a very similar appearance to another species, Black Walnut. The stain isn't actually black or extremely dark, but does have a deeper, darker hue than the other colors you will find. A Smoke stain, Asian Walnut is a nice alternative to it's cousin, Black Walnut as the Asian version may be priced slightly less.

A tip to remember when getting samples of Asian Walnut hardwood flooring is to ask for two samples. Asian Walnut, or Acacia wood has largely varying characteristics between every board. Two samples will give you a much better idea of what the floor is going to look like. Another hint is once you have decided to go with a specific color or dealer, buy one box first. When you get the box, loose lay it out in an area of your home to make sure you like the color and style. You may or may not be able to send the box back to the dealer, but, your initial investment will be much less than if you had purchased the entire job. If for some reason you don't like the Acacia hardwood floor, you are only out about $100 or so instead of thousands.

A few design and construction notes to consider are the characteristics of Asian Walnut wood flooring. Almost always, Asian Walnut is a 3/4" solid board which is designed for a nail down installation. The Asian species of Walnut wood flooring also has a distinct grain pattern. Large swirls and a loose grain structure give Asian Walnut one of the most unique looks of any wood species sold today. This unique grain pattern works very well in large rooms and areas. Another characteristic of Asian Walnut, or Acaica hardwood flooring is the board lengths typically are not longer than about 4 feet. The tree itself is not a tall growing tree, so the boards tend to be slightly shorter than traditional walnut trees. A final note on Asian, Acacia Walnut properties is that it rates very highly on the Janka Scale coming in around 2,300. The Janka scale is a measurement used to determine the hardness of a hardwood species. The higher the number, the harder the wood. At 2,300, Asian Walnut is much harder than common Oaks which are around 1,300 or so. As a reminder, any hardwood floor can be dented, scratched, scuffed etc, however, the harder the wood, the tougher it is.

Shopping for hardwood flooring can be tricky business. You can try local dealers, the chain home improvement stores, liquidators, and online flooring wholesalers. Local dealers offer convenience, but you may find pricing a bit high. The large home improvement stores will have the highest pricing out of all of your options. Not only that but the home improvement stores don't even offer free samples so go ahead and scratch them off the list! Liquidators can offer what seem to be good deals, but be warned, these deals usually have a catch. The catch is, there is almost never a warranty and once their inventory is gone, the product is no longer available. Online flooring stores and wholesalers, will have aggressive prices and will almost always ship free samples out directly to the shopper. A good example of an online flooring wholesaler is BecklersCarpet.com in Dalton, Ga. Beckler's stocks and sells all three colors in Asian Walnut Hardwood Flooring. With pricing starting at $3.79 per square foot and free samples it's a good place to start your shopping.

Eric Dyer is a writer based in Chattanooga, Tn.

For more information on Asian Walnut or other Solid Hardwood Flooring, please call Beckler's at 1-800-232-5537 or visit BecklersCarpet.com.